Justice and Vengeance
by Qaddafi the Ripper
Summary: AU. Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?
1. Chance

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Fandom:** Death Note  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 1:** Chance 

Naomi stood in front of the National Police Agency headquarters and allowed herself to just stare at the outside for a long time. She had made the correct decision in coming here, she knew she had. She had considered making an appointment before hand, but she had changed her mind at the last minute. Surely the Special Police Task Force was busy, and received many people claiming to have information about the Kira case. They wouldn't necessarily pay her any special attention, at least not at first. But, so long as she could get into contact with L, she just knew her information would be listened to. And then it would only be a matter of time until Kira was found, and Raye got the justice he deserved for his murder.

She took a deep breath and pressed down the folds of her jacket. Why she hadn't gone straight in, she still wasn't sure. But she'd had a feeling – similar to the feeling she'd had when Raye had mentioned the bus-jacking – that she should wait a few more minutes before going in. She'd ended up waiting almost thirty full minutes. Any number of people had gone past. She recalled a young man who had gone into the police station with a bag and come back out a few minutes later. He'd smiled at her as he left, and she'd given him a forced smile in return. Just now, a man with curly hair who had an umbrella had passed her up in a great hurry, and disappeared into the building.

Well, waiting any longer wouldn't bring Raye justice faster, and that feeling she'd had was no longer bothering her, now that she had lingered outside. So she stepped through the doors and to the reception desk. "May I help you?" one of the men sitting there asked politely, smiling at her.

"Yes," she said. "I need to speak with the Special Task Force for the Kira case," she replied.

The man frowned. "What do you need to speak with them about?" he asked. Then, as if realizing what he'd said was impolite, he added, "I'm sorry, but we get lots of people in here about the Kira case. If you think you're Kira, I can assure you--"

"I have information about the Kira case," Naomi cut him off. It was rude, she knew, but a little rudeness wouldn't stop her now. "Please, it's very important that I speak with L. Or, if not L, the police on the task force."

The man, still frowning, glanced at his colleague. The other man at the desk shrugged, but didn't look worried. "All right," the man sighed. "I'll contact them, and they'll listen to you. But you'd better not be wasting their time!"

"I'm not," she assured him quickly, and bowed. She waited patiently for just over minute before a man came out. She recognized him as the one who'd passed her earlier with an umbrella.

He approached her slowly. "Hello," he said. "Are you the one who has information about the Kira case?"

"Yes, yes, I am," she confirmed.

"Then come with me," he said, leading her back the way he had come. "We'll discuss this somewhere a little more private." The room he led her to had a sign outside, labeling it as the Special Investigation Headquarters for Criminal Mass Murder Case. To her surprise, it was completely empty inside. After Kira had murdered the FBI agents, she had expected that the number of NPA officers working on the case would go down. However, she hadn't expected all of them to quit. He gestured her to a chair, and she sat. He took a seat on the opposite side of the desk, and picked up a pen, poised to write. "Now," he said with gentle patience, "what do you know, or guess."

She took a deep breath and ordered her thoughts. "You are still working with L?" she asked first. She trusted L, implicitly, but wasn't sure about the rest of the force. She wanted a little confirmation before she said anything.

He nodded. "Yes, we are. There aren't many of us working on the case left, but we are working directly with L. Here," he added, and pulled out a badge. She read his name, Aihara, and nodded. She would have to trust him with some of her information. Not all of it, though. She would only tell everything either to L or to someone she was sure was working with L.

"I'm Maki Shoko," she introduced herself, using the fake name she'd thought up earlier, just in case. "My fiancé was Raye Penber," she began. "He was one of the twelve FBI agents here in Japan helping to investigate the case." Aihara's eyes widened and it was clear he recognized the name or understood its significance. "He was following people who were possible suspects of being Kira before he was killed. And, because of what he told me before he died, I came to this conclusion: Kira can kill people by other means than a heart attack."

Aihara gaped and sat up straight. She now had his undivided attention. "How... How exactly did you come to this conclusion?" he asked in a rush.

She pulled her purse into her lap and sat with her hands crossed over it. She supposed she trusted him enough at this point. "One day while Raye was following one of the subjects, he and the subject got involved in a bus-jacking. If my conclusions are correct, then Kira himself was on the bus with Raye." Aihara gasped and dropped his pen. He scrambled after it for a moment and scrawled some notes down on the paper in front of him. Naomi waited until he had finished writing to continue.

"You see," she explained, "the hijacker had killed three people two days earlier when he held up a bank. After trying to hijack the bus, he panicked, ran out of the bus and straight into traffic, where he was hit by another car and killed. Eight hours before that, another known criminal robbed a convenience store and was stabbed to death before he could escape. That two known criminals died on the same day, both in the midst of another crime, is very unusual.

"Eight days after the bus-jacking, my fiancé and the other eleven FBI agents were killed. During those eight days, more than twenty people with some link to crime, including petty criminals, died in Tokyo of heart attacks. But after the FBI agents died, this spate of deaths abruptly stopped. I'm convinced that all this is because Kira used these people to murder the twelve FBI agents. The convenience store robber could have been used as practice for the bus hijacker's death, and the bus-jacker was a ruse for Kira to get information on the FBI from my fiancé," she concluded.

Aihara frowned and leaned back in his chair, considering her words. He was silent for a long time, deep in thought, before he replied. "You're correct. The closeness of those deaths is very suspicious. However, assuming that Kira used Penber while he was on the bus seems like quite a leap in logic..."

"I know," she agreed. "But I'm sure that Kira was behind it all. Ever since Raye told me about the bus-jacking, it bugged me. I asked him casually about it later. And he said," she paused to make sure she had his full attention, "that he'd been forced to show his ID to another passenger, although he didn't tell me who." Aihara frowned when she said this. Naomi felt briefly annoyed. Why couldn't he see the connection right away? If these were the men L had working for him, the case might never be solved. She forced down her impatience and frustration to explain. "He was on a top-secret mission, unknown to the Japanese police. He was under strict orders to never show his ID to anyone. He made me swear not to tell anyone about this, or the bus-jacking. But I'm convinced that Kira was the one he showed his ID to, and that was how Kira found the other eleven agents."

Some time during her explanation, Aihara started nodding his head in understanding. He hadn't seen her point right away, but now that she'd spelled it out, he understood. She noticed that he hadn't written down any of the rest of what she had said. "You may be right..." he murmured. "You have excellent analytical skills. Are you with the police in America?"

"I worked with the FBI for three years," she told him. If he looked her up later, and found that no Maki Shoko was associated with the FBI, then she'd worry about it later. For now, this information had to reach L. "I worked with L a few years ago on a case in Los Angeles." She felt herself smile, her first smile since Raye had died. "I trust L completely..."

"He is something incredible," Aihara agreed with quiet fervor. "In fact, I'm going to tell him about this information of yours right now. Could you wait out front while I contact him?" he asked in embarrassment. She nodded, and he led her back to the front entrance. Returning to the reception desk, she sat down in the waiting area. Briefly, she thought it was a bit unfair. She had worked with L on a case, but she had only heard his voice come through the computer. Aihara actually knew how to contact him, and perhaps had even seen him face-to-face. The case she'd worked with L on, while certainly dangerous and important, she admitted was nothing compared to the Kira case. She told herself firmly not to feel jealous as she waited for Aihara's return.

It took him much longer than anticipated. She'd expected to wait ten, maybe fifteen minutes for him. It was close to an hour before he came back for her. He was looking at her with even more respect when he finally returned. He led her back into the task force room, where they again seated themselves. "You used an alias," he started. His tone was not accusatory and she didn't feel guilt over it. "You're very intelligent. L only just told those of us still in the task force to use alias, and he gave us fake IDs." He pulled out another police badge and showed it to her. His real name, it seemed, was Aizawa. Then, without further warning, he said, "L would like to meet with you."

Naomi jumped in her seat. That she had not expected. "L... wants to meet me?" she gasped. But L never showed himself, at least not before now.

Aizawa nodded. "Yes. He thinks he knows who you are from the description I gave him of you. But he wants to talk with you face to face, to get all the details your fiancé told you, and everything you have discovered or guessed. As someone who was part of the FBI and worked with L once before, he's willing to trust you and work with you a second time." He paused to let her digest all of it. For her part, Naomi could hardly believe it. She was willing to help out, and knew she could be a great help, but certainly hadn't expected this offer out of nowhere. Perhaps L did know who she really was, and trusted her from their past association.

Raye would have been jealous of her, for being able to work next to L. She forced that thought from her mind. She couldn't afford to think about Raye right now. In just a little longer, he would be avenged. "Yes," she agreed. "I want to meet L. I want to do everything I can to help." Aizawa nodded and picked up his cell phone. She politely didn't listen to his conversation.

He put the phone down a few minutes later and said, "Someone is coming to take over for me here. As soon as he's here, we'll go to meet L. He's anxious to talk to you." And he leaned back in his chair, prepared to wait for his colleague to get here. Naomi forced herself to likewise relax and wait. While her body might have obeyed, her mind was going a million miles a second. What kind of person was L? She had worked with him, and had complete confidence in his intelligence and sense of justice, but she had no idea what sort of person he was. He was probably thirty at least, closer to forty. He would be serious and one would be able to tell at once glance that he was brilliant. He would be refined, since he was an important person upon whom so many hopes rested. She was more than willing to admit that she was eager to meet him.

Another man – a short one with close cropped hair – came to replace Aizawa about five minutes later. He didn't give a name, and Aizawa didn't offer an introduction either. She guessed they still didn't completely trust her, and she didn't blame them. She still hadn't told Aizawa her real name yet, after all. Aizawa walked to the closest subway station and boarded, Naomi following him silently. Three stops and four minutes later, they got off the subway. Aizawa walked about half a block and crossed the street to the Imperial Hotel. Naomi supposed she shouldn't be surprised; it was doubtful that L was a Japanese citizen, so he wouldn't have a house. There were worse places to stay at than a fancy hotel. They stepped into the elevator and waited, and Naomi clutched her purse. It was coming closer, the moment when Raye would be given justice. The elevator dinged and they stepped off into the hallway, stopping a few doors down. Aizawa knocked and entered.

Naomi followed him in and he closed the door behind him. There were four people in the hotel room. One was an older gentleman, perhaps forty, with glasses and a nice suit. Next to him sat a young man with a friendly face. Then was another man, wide set and serious. It was the fourth person who caught her attention. He was young too, hardly older than her, if even that. His hair was messy and he was dressed in rumpled, white clothes. He had dark circles under his eyes. He was sitting down with his feet drawn up with him on the chair. She caught his eyes and he nodded. "Misora Naomi," he stated plainly.

She jumped and her purse nearly slid off her shoulder. "Y-Yes," she stuttered.

"I am L," he informed her calmly. He waved at the comfortable chairs near his own. "Please, sit." She faltered for a moment before taking an open chair. Aizawa came and sat down in the chair next to hers. She couldn't help but wonder if this was the real L or not. It could be someone pretending to be L. Surely the real L couldn't look like this...

"Is she the one you thought she was?" the older man asked L.

The self-proclaimed L nodded. "Yes. We worked together on a case in Los Angeles. And it was easy enough to find out who Raye Penber's fiancé was." Naomi felt a moment of chagrin at that. After throwing his name around like that, she really shouldn't be surprised that he'd figured out who she was. On the other hand, she had never expected her false name to hold up under a background check; she'd used it on the off chance she ran into Kira. "Repeat to me everything you told Aizawa," he requested.

Taking a deep breath, Naomi launched into her tale a second time, including the date of the bus-jacking. L listened to the whole story thoughtfully, never interrupting. When she was finished, he stared off into space, biting on the tip of his thumb. She waited for him to say something, but it was as if he'd forgotten anyone else was in the room, including her. "Would you like some tea while we wait?" the other young man asked, leaning towards her with a friendly smile. Naomi blinked, then smiled politely and nodded. "I'm Matsuda," he introduced himself, handing her a cup, "this is Mogi," he nodded towards the large man, "and this is Chief Yagami," he nodded towards the older man.

"I'm Misora Naomi," she replied. "It's nice to meet you." If she was going to be working on the case with them, they needed to know each other's names. She took a sip of the tea and felt warmer. It hadn't been that cold outside, and she had been inside for some time now, but thinking of Kira and Raye made her cold.

"Don't worry too much about him, Misora-san," Matsuda continued, glancing again at L. "I'm sure he's thinking something brilliant right now, something the rest of us couldn't even guess at." He grinned. "At least, nothing I could guess." She looked again at L, who now had a stack of papers he was looking through, while still biting his thumb. "You might be able to guess what he's thinking, though. You already figured so much out!" Matsuda cheered.

"Of course she was able to determine things we weren't," Yagami said. "She had information we didn't have. It's that simple." He turned to her. "I agree with your conclusions. It is probable that Kira was the one your fiancé showed his ID to that day on the bus. There's just too many coincidences otherwise, and it makes sense how Kira found out about one of the FBI agents."

L put down the papers and picked up a tea cup. He drank from it, put it back down, and said, "I also agree. Kira must have had contact with at least one of the murdered FBI agents. Penber was the second one to receive the file. Furthermore, he was acting strangely right before his death. While it is true that Kira can control his victim's actions to a certain extent before he kills them, Penber's actions were still unusual. We have videos from the subway before he died; I'll review those later. However, if it's true that Kira was one the bus with Penber on December twentieth, then we finally have a suspect for Kira's identity."

Naomi sat up straighter, her attention riveted. She had been wrong to question L, even for a moment, based on his appearance. To take her information, and minutes later have a suspect, was nothing short of remarkable. "That fast!" Matsuda whistled, also impressed. "Who?"

L glanced at Matsuda and Yagami. "We cannot go out now and arrest this person. To truly stop Kira, we need to know how he kills, and catch him in the act. Then we can arrest him, hopefully without further loss of life. Furthermore, even though there is one suspect, the other people Penber was trailing are not free of suspicion yet."

"Well?" Yagami asked, impatience entering his voice. "Who do you suspect?"

"There were only members of two families that Penber was trailing during the time in question. In his report, he mentions following a suspect onto a bus, though, as Misora-san confirmed, he said nothing in his report about a bus-jacking or showing his ID to anyone." He paused again, and by now everyone in the room was all but dying of impatience. Naomi was nearly out of her seat, waiting for the name. "On December twentieth, Raye Penber followed Yagami Light on a bus headed for Spaceland." He turned to Yagami. "Your son has the highest chance of being Kira, from what we know at this moment."

Yagami sat rigid, his mouth hanging open in shock. Naomi couldn't find it in herself to feel pity for him as a father at the moment. She had a person to focus on. It would only be a matter of time before she brought Kira – Yagami Light – to justice. She swore to Raye that she would never let him escape.

* * *

**Notes:**  
Many bits of dialog come directly from the Viz Death Note translation.  
Aihara is Aizawa's alias from the manga. He wasn't supposed to write down anything to do with the Kira case, but at first he thought her information would be useless. Once he realized she had a point, he stopped writing things down. 


	2. Clues

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 2: **Clues 

"My son? Kira?" Yagami breathed out in disbelief. His hands trembled on his lap.

L nodded. "Yes. He was the one Penber was following the day of the bus-jacking. At the moment, he is our top suspect. However, I am willing to consider all those Penber was following as suspects until further investigation, and that includes your wife and daughter, and the family of Director-General Kitamura. Until we find further hints, they are all suspects, Yagami-san."

Naomi watched calmly as Yagami bent his head. She could clearly hear his breathing. It took less time than she had thought for him to look back up. "Fine," he said. "Investigate my son, and the rest of my family. I'm sure you'll find that he couldn't possibly be Kira."

"I will then," L murmured. He turned to Naomi. "Would you be willing to go through the tapes on Penber with me, Misora-san? Since you knew him best, you might notice things I would miss."

"Of course," she murmured. A few minutes later, an older gentleman had entered the room carrying a police badge and a belt.

"Hello," he told her with a smile. "I am Watari. I'm glad you're here to help Ryuuzaki."

She blinked and realized that Ryuuzaki must be L. And the Watari she recalled from Los Angeles was this old man whom she was just now seeing clearly. "I want to be here," she assured him calmly. "I want justice for Raye." She wanted Kira to pay for his crimes. She would do anything for that goal. Watari nodded solemnly and handed her the badge and the belt. She flipped open the badge to find that it was a fake police badge, with her picture and her fake name, Maki Shoko, written on it. She stuffed the badge into her purse at the very top. The belt came next, and Watari explained that she could press the middle to contact him at any time. Naomi put the belt on too and began to feel more safe. L – Ryuuzaki, or whatever name he went by – wouldn't be taking any more chances than necessary. It was a relief to know.

Mogi had gone off to find whatever details he could about the bus-jacking. Matsuda was helping Watari set up video equipment, and Yagami was sitting by himself on the couch, staring intently at the floor. Naomi turned away from him; there was nothing she could do to comfort him, and nothing she wished to do to comfort him. She sat down next to L once the video equipment was all set up, and Matsuda left them alone to sit with Yagami. They watched the tape through its entirety the first time without saying a word to each other. Naomi could barely breath at the very end, watching Raye fall down to the ground just as he left the subway car. She felt tears prick at her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away. L said nothing, and she wondered if he hadn't noticed, or hadn't said anything in an attempt to spare her feelings.

L had the images from when Raye entered the turnstile and when he boarded the train show up at the same time in different screens. "Very strange," he murmured. "He boarded the train at 15:33. At 16:45, he gets off the train and dies within seconds. One full circle on the Yamanote train line takes an hour, but he was on the train for an hour and a half. His ticket indicates the train he did board, but there's nothing to indicate that he got off at any point. If he was following anyone at the time, or being followed by anyone, the image isn't clear enough to see..." he trailed off.

Naomi frowned and studied the images more intently. They weren't good quality, and it was mostly luck that they were able to identify Raye at all, much less another person. She tried not to look at the third screen, the one showing Raye's death, focusing instead on the other two. She frowned as she watched him walk. "He looks nervous," she observed. "He's walking stiffly, and more slowly than he usually does. Could he know that something was going to happen?" Had Raye known he was going to die? Had Kira toyed with him personally before killing him? She grit her teeth and tried to force the anger down. There would be plenty of time for anger later, when Kira was caught.

"Perhaps," L agreed. "He received the file with the names and faces of all the FBI agents on his computer at 15:21. That's just eight minutes after he boarded. Then he sat on the train for an hour and a half with the file on him..."

"Kira can control a person's actions before they die," Naomi reminded him angrily. It was beginning to look more and more sure that Kira had manipulated Raye before murdering him. "That could explain why he was acting strangely."

L nodded in agreement before jerking his head sharply, looking at the screens more intently. "What happened to the envelope?" he demanded.

"What?" Naomi asked and frowned at the screens.

"At the turnstile and on the platform, he's holding something that looks like a manila envelope," he said.

She gasped as she noticed the envelope beneath Raye's left arm. "You're right," she agreed. "He's definitely holding an envelope." He had it when entering the turnstile and up to the point when he boarded the train.

"No envelope was found on his body," Matsuda said, coming up behind them.

Naomi barely noticed him. "Which means he left it on the train," she said.

"Maybe the envelope contained the file on the FBI agents," Matsuda suggested. "And then Kira got it from him on the train before he killed Penber."

"No," L contradicted him. "Penber only got the file at 15:21, after he was on the train. He couldn't have had it before hand."

"Oh yeah," Matsuda muttered, chagrined.

"Get every station on the Yamanote train line to give you all the footage they have of December twenty-seventh," L instructed Matsuda. Matsuda nodded and walked off again.

"This last image," Naomi murmured. She had finally made herself look at the third screen, the one on which Raye died. "Doesn't it look like he's looking back into the train?"

L nodded. "Yes, it does. Wouldn't it be interesting if Kira were on that train with him?"

Naomi jerked and sat up straight. She frowned at him. "Kira can kill from afar," she reminded him. "There'd be no reason for him to be on the train with Raye." Even if Raye had been looking back into the train desperately... If Kira had been on the train with Raye, wouldn't that mean he had been toying with Raye?

"I agree," L said. "However, he might have guessed we would think that, and took the risk of coming out into the open." He bit the tip of his thumb again. Naomi wondered distractedly why he kept doing that. Perhaps it helped him think. "Well, even if it was Kira on this train, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let himself be captured on a security camera with the envelope. A public place like this, he would have checked the camera locations in advance and used the blind spots, if there were any. If not, he'd hide behind someone. We'll double check all the tapes we get, and see if we can recognize someone."

Naomi nodded and looked away from the screens. She didn't want to look at Raye dying again. It was just too painful. Better to focus on finding his killer. She wouldn't let herself start crying in front of L. She wouldn't let herself cry now. But she still felt tears prick at her eyes and threaten to slide down her cheeks. She sniffed quietly and rubbed a hand across her face as L looked the other direction.

Thankfully, she was distracted when Aizawa came up to L with a sheaf of papers. "I've been reading through Penber's report," he said. "On the day in question, he doesn't say anything about a bus-jacking, but, as Misora-san said, he didn't plan to say anything about it. He does mention that he was following Yagami Light that day, and that he followed Light-kun onto a bus headed to Spaceland. He said Light-kun was going there on a date with a girl whom he addressed as 'Yuri.' He said he didn't follow the two to Spaceland, so that's all we have."

L held out his hand and Aizawa gave him the papers. He skimmed through the report, then nodded. "He does say that he followed Yagami-kun onto the bus to Spaceland around 11:30 in the morning. Find me the bus schedule. I know to know which train was hijacked that day." Aizawa nodded and scurried off. Since L wasn't looking at the report anymore, Naomi took it from him and began skimming it herself. Sure enough, Raye hadn't mentioned the problem on the bus, only that he had followed Yagami Light onto the bus. Then he said that Light and his date, Yuri, had gone on to Spaceland, and he hadn't followed that far. As she continued to read, L called Matsuda over and asked if he could find out the identity of this Yuri person Light was with.

Naomi flipped through Raye's report for other days. He had seen nothing suspicious from any of the people he had been following. His report was dry reading, but Naomi read every word of it anyway. It was so impersonal, but it was as close as she could come to listening to Raye. She must have been reading for over a half hour when Aizawa came back.

"Osoreda Kiichiro was killed at 11:45 on December twentieth when he was hit by a car," he reported. "After authorities spoke with the bus driver and the other passengers, it was determined that he got on the bus at 11:31. Shortly after getting on the bus, he checked on a passenger in the back. He saw something that made him panic, and he was yelling that he'd seen a monster. He fired all of the bullets in his gun before running off the bus, only to die." He looked up and handed the report to L. "Of course, none of the other passengers saw any monster. There was no interview with the passenger in the back who Osoreda checked on. There is no mention of Yagami Light as one of the passengers, or anyone named Yuri. However, it doesn't mention Penber either, so they could have slipped away before the police arrived."

L flipped to the page with the bus route schedule. "According to this, the bus made an 11:27 stop just before the 11:31 stop when Osoreda boarded. The bus stop for the 11:27 time is close to the Yagami residence." He paused and continued to scan the schedule. "According to this, there other buses that were going to Spaceland and stopped anywhere close to the Yagami residence were a half hour earlier or later."

"Ryuuzaki!" came a shot from behind them. Naomi, Aizawa, and Ryuuzaki all turned to see Yagami on his feet. He was pale and sweating. "Are you saying that my son was on that bus?"

"It appears that way," L confirmed. Yagami drew in a deep breath and steadied himself with a hand on the back of the chair. "However, this does not automatically make your son Kira. Everything we have discussed here is circumstantial evidence at best. We have no real proof one way or the other. However, right now, your son does have the greatest probability of being Kira, and is the only real lead we have."

Yagami sat back down heavily, clearly shaken. For the first time Naomi felt some real pity for the man. What could it be like, to learn one's son is a mass murderer? It must be awful, she thought, knowing her sentiment was shallow. She could hope, for Yagami's sake, that his son wasn't Kira. But if that was true, then they would be no closer to finding the real Kira, and that was something she could never hope for.

Matsuda came back. "There are a number of girls at Light-kun's school named Yuri. We can't know which one it is for sure, but there is one Yuri in Light-kun's class. She would probably be the best one to start with, if we needed to ask around."

L nodded, biting his thumb again, and told Matsuda to keep the list handy. "What are the chances that my son is Kira?" Yagami asked straight out.

Leaning back a bit with a frown, L chewed on his thumb for a moment longer before answering. "The probably that Kira in among those Penber was investigating is fifteen... no, ten percent, based on Penber's actions before he died, and on the bus-jacking incident. The probability that Yagami Light is Kira is... Hmm, twenty percent. I can't say more, since Penber merely stated in his report that Yagami-kun was the typical studious, college-bound third-year student. I would like to more closely investigate your son, Yagami-san, and the others Penber was following."

"How do you plan to investigate?" Aizawa asked. "If Kira might be among those families, we can't bring them in to investigate. It'd be too dangerous, since we still don't know how Kira kills people."

"I agree," L said. "And we don't have enough evidence for an arrest at this time. So, in order to collect more information on the suspects, I would like to install secret cameras and listening devices in the homes of both the Yagami family and the Kitamura family."

"What?" Matsuda exclaimed. "This is Japan! That's totally illegal!"

"Yeah, that's going way too far," Aizawa added right after him. "If news of this got out, there'd be a huge scandal. We'd all get fired. No, worse, we'd get arrested..."

Naomi scowled hard at the two officers. "What's this?" she demanded. "You're not willing to risk your jobs to catch Kira? I thought you were willing to risk your lives!" Aizawa and Matsuda glanced away from her guiltily. "Surely we can risk this much. People are dying right now, and not just criminals any more, but people like my fiancé who weren't guilty of anything expect doing their jobs!" She caught her breath and stopped, feeling tears once again threaten her. She took a few deep, calming breaths.

"For a ten percent, or even twenty percent possibility..." Yagami muttered darkly. He kept his gaze locked with L's while Aizawa and Matsuda continued to mutter about how low the odds were and low illegal it was. Finally, he announced, "I find it galling that my family, and my son in particular, is under suspicion. So I give you permission to install cameras and listening devices. However, I want you to go all the way with this. I want everything bugged: the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the hallways, everything. Don't miss an inch."

"That's what I was planning to do anyway," L replied.

"Sir!' Matsuda cried. "Are you sure about this? Think about your wife, and your daughter--"

"I know exactly what this means!" Yagami snapped, rounding on Matsuda. "Now shut up!" Then he turned and staggered over to the floor-length window. The entire room was silent for a long moment.

"It's decided then," L said. "We will install cameras and listening devices in both homes as soon as we're sure no one is at home. As a courtesy to Yagami-san, only he and I will survey his house. For the rest of you, two people at a time watch the Kitamura house, and one person needs to man the NPA office. Another person needs to watch all the tapes from the Yamanote line, to see if anyone from the Yagami or Kitamura family is there. Finally, Misora-san, if you could conduct interviews with the girls named Yuri at Yagami-kun's school. Use whatever pretext you need, but find out if any of them were on the bus to Spaceland that was hijacked on December twentieth." She nodded, coolly thinking through what strategies she might use. They were only high school girls, so she shouldn't need anything too sophisticated, but she wasn't willing to take any chances.

"We will plan to have the homes bugged for ten days," L continued. "That period can be shortened or extended as I see the need. However, Yagami-san, you can be assured that I will notify you first of any changes in the plan. Is that acceptable?" Yagami didn't turn around, but he gave the barest nod of his head. "Good. Then, Watari, how long will it take you to set up the cameras?"

"I can start tomorrow if no one's at home," Watari replied calmly. "I will also conduct a brief search of every room, to see what we can find. I will have Yagami Light's room searched carefully." L nodded and reached for his cup of tea, which Naomi had seen him out four sugar cubes into earlier. As easily as that, the chase was on. Naomi felt a thrill at it. Finally, they were moving closer to a target, and finding proof for Kira's identity. She could barely wait.

* * *

**Notes:**  
Once again, many lines come directly from the Viz translations. If I get far enough, I'll use fan translations, but the Viz one is a bit smoother.  
Yes, I do have a reason for investigating Yuri. Basically, they need to know whether or not Light was really on the bus that got hijacked or not, and she's the only one who knows.  
Writing this, I can't help but feel sorry for Yagami. If Light gets caught, it so isn't going to go well for him... 


	3. Interview

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Fandom:** Death Note  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 3:** Interview 

Daikoku Private Academy was supposed to be one of the best high schools in Kanto. Currently, the top scorer on exams in all of Japan went here, which helped the school's reputation immensely. Naomi had done some research on the school before she came here, and had been impressed with it at first. Then she had discovered that Number One in Japan was none other than Yagami Light. If he was Kira, that part didn't surprise her, because it was clear that Kira was highly intelligent. But she couldn't help but wonder what sort of person this Light was. A model student like him shouldn't become an infamous mass murderer, and before even graduating high school.

She could have asked Yagami to tell her about his son, what the boy was like beyond his obvious intelligence. She hadn't though. Yagami knew, with a parent's flawless instinct, that she was convinced already that Light was Kira, after L had listed him as the top suspect. Yagami wouldn't want to tell her anything about Light, beyond the indisputable fact of his innocence, and Naomi didn't want to ask him anything. Besides, Watari had installed cameras in the Yagami and Kitamura households earlier in the day. Soon she would be able to ask L what Light was like under observation.

For now, though, she had her own task to accomplish.

There were twelve girls at Daikoku named Yuri; not surprising, since Yuri was a fairly common name and Daikoku wasn't a small school. Naomi had a list of all of them with her, and planned to start with the one in Light's class and go from there. If the Yuri that Light had gone on a date with on December twentieth wasn't a student from Daikoku, she would have a hard time finding the girl. But the girls Light knew best would be ones that went to his school or his prep academy. There was a good chance his date would be among those two groups. School had let out for the day, but Naomi had wanted to walk past the building first, just to see what it looked like. She wasn't fool enough to go looking for Yuri during school hours, when Light would also be around.

The school records listed students' home addresses, and Yuri wasn't supposed to live very far from school. Naomi walked there, pausing occasionally to keep from getting lost. It was 17:04 by her watch when she reached the right house, a small but neat little home nestled among other houses of the same architecture. Naomi rang the bell and waited. A woman, probably the girl's mother, answered. When Naomi mentioned she was the police, she was let right in. The mother looked horrified by her presence as she called her daughter Yuri downstairs. Yuri, when she also discovered that Naomi was with the police, trembled. "I... I didn't do anything, I swear," she told Naomi.

Naomi held up her hand, placating. "You're not in trouble," she assured the girl. "I'm here investigating a case, and I was led to believe you might be a witness. So I'm here to get your help." Both mother and daughter sighed in relief. Naomi was sat down in the living room with a cup of tea. Yuri sat across from her, and the mother hovered around in the background.

"You're sure I'm not in trouble?" Yuri asked nervously.

"I'm sure," Naomi replied. It was probably a good thing she was the one here, she thought. The girl might feel more comfortable talking to another woman than a man. "I'm here investigating a bus hijacking. It happened on December twentieth of 2004. You weren't at the scene when the police arrived, but I was led to believe you might have been on the bus."

Yuri frowned. "December twentieth?" she repeated.

"It was a Sunday," Naomi said to help her remember. "The bus was headed for Spaceland."

"Oh!" Naomi cheered mentally. She could tell instantly from the girl's face that she was the right one, so she wouldn't have to track down the other Yuri's. She had been on that bus that day. Now she just needed her to tell her it was the bus that was hijacked, and that Yagami Light had been on the bus with her. "Yes, I was on the bus to Spaceland that day," Yuri confirmed.

"You didn't tell me anything about being hijacked!" the mother cried in distress.

Yuri cringed. "Sorry about that. I was fine, and I didn't want you to worry, so I didn't say anything about it. Anyway, I was on a date with Yagami Light, and if the other girls found out about it, they'd be jealous. Light-kun is the most popular guy at school."

It took a great deal of effort to not grin in triumph. He had been on that bus! Best to get as many details from the girl as she could, if only so the girl wouldn't suspect that Naomi was after information about Light. "Could you tell me what happened on the bus that day?" she asked gently. "As much as you remember."

"Hmm..." Yuri leaned back to consider. "Well, Light-kun and I got on together. I was really looking forward to the date, so I didn't notice what time we got on, or what time that creep got on. It was about 11:30 when he got on the bus." Naomi nodded encouragingly, and Yuri continued. "I don't know his name or anything, but he looked scary."

Naomi pulled out a picture of Osoreda Kiichiro. "Is this the man?" she asked.

Yuri took the picture and studied it for a moment. "Yes, I'm pretty sure it is. I got a good look at him before he pulled out his gun."

"And when did he take out his gun?" Naomi asked, putting the picture back.

"Right after he got on. He held the gun up to the driver, and said he was taking over. I don't remember everything he said, but he was calling Spaceland for money. He said he'd kill us all if anything happened." The mother gasped and had to sit down. "Don't worry, we were all okay," Yuri assured her mother. Then she returned to the story. "Light-kun didn't look worried at all, so that made me feel better. He had a piece of paper he showed me. It said I shouldn't worry, that he'd take care of the hijacker. Another passenger was sitting behind us, and he must have seen the note too. The other passenger said Light-kun shouldn't write notes, but just talk quietly. Then..." she paused to think. "Oh, yes. The man had an accent, and Light-kun noticed first, but I noticed after Light-kun. He told the man he thought he was helping the hijacker."

Naomi fought down the urge to react to that part. That must have been Raye. His Japanese was good, thanks to his mother, but not perfect. She'd teased him about his accent a few times. "What happened next?" she asked, bringing her attention back to Yuri. Yagami Light must be Kira, she was sure of it now. So she needed to get as much information as possible, so Raye could be avenged.

"The man showed something to Light-kun. I didn't see what, but it was probably an ID. Whatever it was, Light-kun decided he wasn't working with the hijacker. They started planning how to beat the hijacker, until Light-kun dropped something, I think it was a piece of paper. I didn't see clearly, but the hijacker did. He came back to see, but I guess it wasn't anything important, because he didn't look angry. But that's when it started getting weird."

"Weird?" she repeated with a frown. The official report had said Osoreda had thought he'd seen a monster, which had caused him to panic. Since he was known to be a drug addict, it had been assumed he was on something at the time. If he had, though, that would be awfully abrupt. Hallucinations didn't usually appear that quickly, even while under the influence, did they?

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, it was like he was on something. He was looking at the back of the bus, and he started yelling about a monster. Then he started shooting at it." The mother let out another gasp of terror. "Don't worry, Light-kun protected me," Yuri added quickly. "And anyway, the shots didn't get close to anyone. I don't remember how many times he shot, but he stopped and ran towards the front of the bus. He yelled for the driver to stop, and jumped out. He got hit by a car as soon as he got out." Yuri cringed. "I've never seen anyone get hit by a car before, and I never want to see that happen again."

Had Osoreda's hallucination been caused by Kira? They knew he could control a person's actions before they died to some extent, but weren't sure how much Kira could do. Seeing something that wasn't there didn't seem impossible, however. "Did anything else happen?" she asked.

"No," Yuri shook her head. "That man behind us left before the police arrived, and so Light-kun and I decided to do the same. We spent the rest of the day together at Spaceland." She paused. "I'm sorry I left. I didn't think it would hurt anyone, and I wanted to get away from all that blood as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I understand perfectly why you left. I probably would have done the same." Naomi smiled. "You were a great help, so thank you. With this, we might be able to put this case to a rest." The Kira case, not the bus hijacking case, but Yuri didn't need to know that. Since the mother was still rather distressed, Yuri led her out the door. Naomi suggested that Yuri keep the interview a secret, to which the girl fervently agreed.

It was with a much lighter step that Naomi walked away from the home and towards the hotel L was staying at today, a different hotel than last time. She had expected to have a try a few more girls before she found the correct Yuri, but she had gotten lucky the first time.

It was past 18:30 by the time she reached L's room and she was hungry for dinner but extremely happy. There were various sweets scattered across the table, doubtless for L, but no healthy food. The only ones inside the room were Matsuda, Yagami, and L himself, so the others must have been busy with their own tasks. A series of televisions were set out on different sides of the room on top of tables, showing two different families sitting down to dinner together. Matsuda looked up in surprise when she entered. "You're back early," he noted.

She allowed herself to smile this time. "I got lucky. Yagami-kun went with his classmate Yuri on a date to Spaceland on December twentieth." Yagami stiffened in his seat before whirling around to stare at her. His face had drained of all color.

L didn't turn from the screen. "And?" he asked.

"It was the bus Osoreda tried to hijack," Naomi concluded. She didn't look at Yagami when she said it. Bad enough that she was proving his son was Kira, she didn't need to look at him while she did it. She repeated everything Yuri had told her to L, especially the part about how Light hadn't looked worried, and when Raye had shown him something like an ID. "We know for sure that Light was on that bus now," she concluded coolly.

"Yes," L concurred. He still didn't look away from the televisions, although the Yagami family was having a thoroughly uninteresting dinner. "Matsuda-san, when the cameras and listening devices were installed in Yagami-kun's room, was anything interesting found?"

Matsuda shook his head, looking away from the Kitamura family's dinner. "Not really. A few dirty magazines, and a diary in his desk drawer. I glanced through the diary, and it looked like a pretty normal diary to me. There was nothing else that stood out." He paused, glancing briefly at Yagami. "Does this mean that Light-kun is Kira?" he asked tentatively.

"Well, the possibility has gone up," L replied.

"How much?" Yagami demanded in a choked voice. "What are the chances that he's Kira?"

L paused to consider. "Forty-five percent. Maybe fifty." Yagami drew back, trembling. "We already have the cameras in place," L added. "I want to observe him for a while."

And observe he did for the next seven days. As promised, he didn't let anyone except himself and Yagami observe Light and the rest of the family, so Naomi was kept largely in the dark. She helped watch over the Kitamura household, and none of them had done anything remotely suspicious, but it had mostly been to cover all chances that they were being observed in the first place. The surveillance tapes from the Yamanote line were watched multiple times, but no one from the two families was clearly pictured on the day Raye had died.

She had learned this much from the observations of the Yagami family: criminals were still dying, including criminals Light seemed not to have known about. There were definitely a few criminals, according to Matsuda who had heard it from Yagami, who had been reported on the news while Light wasn't watching who had still been killed by Kira. So perhaps Light wasn't Kira after all. Or perhaps, Naomi thought darkly, he'd learned or guessed about the cameras and had found some way to kill people in secret while being observed. She wasn't sure how he could accomplish that, but perhaps L had some ideas. After all, also according to Matsuda, there were more dirty magazines in his room that hadn't been found when searched earlier. So there might be other things that had also been missed. Either way, knowing how intelligent Light was, she was willing to consider that there was much he could do to trick them that she wouldn't catch.

When the seven days of observation were over, L gathered together the team – except for Mogi, who was at the NPA manning the office there – to report his conclusion. A brief glance towards Yagami told Naomi that he probably hadn't slept the entire week. Of course, neither she nor any of the others looked much better. The men all had stubble on their faces, and Naomi's hair was knotted and tangled. She let her hands curl into nervous fists as she sat with bated breath, waiting to hear what L would say.

"In these past seven days," he said slowly, "no one in either family has done anything suspicious that would prove one of them is Kira. We will take down the bugs in the Kitamura and Yagami households."

Yagami let out an explosive sigh of relief, sagging in his chair. Naomi frowned and sat up straighter. Impossible! After everything she'd learned about Light, L had now decided he wasn't Kira? "So, it was all for nothing?" Aizawa echoed her thoughts. "Kira isn't one of them?"

"That's not what I said," L countered. "I said that no one had done anything suspicious, that no one had done anything to prove he was Kira. Kira might have found a way to kill even while being observed for seven days." He dropped three sugar cubes into his coffee, before picking up the cup. He took a sip and stared off into space.

The rest of the team turned to stare at each other, while trying to avoid making eye contact with Yagami. "I wonder how Kira kills people," Matsuda said. "I mean, we know he needs to know a person's name and face to kill, but how does he actually kill?"

"Who knows?" Ukita shrugged.

"But how can we catch Kira in the act of killing if we don't know how he kills?" Aizawa reasoned.

Matsuda sighed and slumped down in his seat. "I guess that's one of the things we'll have to figure out," he said. "But it's almost like Kira has some sort of super power."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Aizawa scoffed. "There's no such thing as super powers in real life. You're been reading too much manga, Matsuda."

Ukita tapped his finger against the arm of the chair he was sitting in. "But no one in real life should be able to kill a person just by knowing their name and face. We know for a fact that Kira can cause heart attacks from afar. Is there a logical answer to these powers?"

"Maybe not," Aizawa conceded. "But I refuse to believe we're fighting some sort of magician or something."

The three continued their discussion, but Naomi tuned them out. She agreed with Matsuda and Ukita that Kira's power was not of this world. Exactly what that power was, they would discover one day. But they had no clues as to what that power might be, so there was no point wasting time in idle speculation. All that mattered was catching Kira, so Raye could be avenged.

"Yagami-san," L spoke up, and everyone fell silent. Yagami looked up. He'd lost weight, and his cheeks were hollowed out. And there were now dark circles under his eyes, to match L's. He looked like a man who had seen hell. Naomi felt another rush of pity for the man. If his son was Kira, there was nothing Yagami had done to deserve that. It would have been better for everyone if Kira had never come to be. But time only moved forward, and if Light really was Kira, then Yagami would have to come to terms with that fact sooner or later. "I would like to conduct a thorough search of your house."

Yagami frowned harder. "To search Light's room, you mean," he said. "To see what other things my son might have hidden."

"And to search the rest of the house," L said calmly. "If Yagami-kun is indeed Kira, and has hidden something to give us proof in the house, then it is probably hidden in his room. But he might have hidden things other places around the house also."

"You want a search warrant for the Yagami house?" Matsuda asked. L nodded, and continued to watch Yagami for his reaction.

Yagami let out a breath, but the intensity of his gaze never diminished. "In one week of observing my son, he did nothing suspicious. For me, that was more than enough to confirm that Light isn't Kira. However, since it wasn't enough for you, Ryuuzaki, go ahead and search. Search the whole house when no one is home. And, since you're so much more clever than anyone else, go search yourself, so nothing gets missed this time!"

"Thank you," L murmured. "I will make sure we find anything there is to find. Aizawa-san, if you can get a warrant for us?" Aizawa nodded. Naomi relaxed in her chair, feeling at peace. This was it, she was sure. Somewhere in the Yagami house, there was proof, and L would surely be able to find it. She would be sure that he would bring her with to search the house. In just a little time, she would bring Kira to justice. To avenge Raye.

* * *

Notes:  
The manga is supposed to start in 2004 (I'm pretty sure), but December 20th is a Saturday, and, since Japanese schools have classes on Saturday mornings, it must have been a Sunday when Light took Yuri to Spaceland. But it couldn't have been 2003 or 2004 either. Or either the author goofed on the dates, of Light's school doesn't have Saturday morning classes. 

I'm never sure how close I should keep certain scenes to the manga, when the scenes are close. Last chapter was probably the last time that'll happen, as there were things I wanted to establish.


	4. Book

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 4:** Book 

It was on a Tuesday that they went to search the Yagami house. Light and Sayu were at school, and Sachiko was away for most of the day on errands, which meant they could search without fear of Kira discovering their presence. Yagami had not come with. He had given his permission to thoroughly search the house, yes, but it was better for him not to search with them. He was so familiar with the house, and his family, that he might miss something they would find. Aizawa had stayed behind with Yagami to go over any other possibilities, and Ukita was manning the NPA office. So that left Naomi, L, Watari, Matsuda, and Mogi to search the Yagami house.

Naomi and L would be searching the upstairs, leaving Light's room for last, while Matsuda, Watari, and Mogi searched the first floor. If they found anything remotely suspicious, they were to tell L right away, before investigating further. If there was proof to Kira's identity, or the secret to his power, lying around the house, there would be some sort of protection. They knew Kira was intelligent, and wouldn't leave himself unguarded.

Mogi held on to the search warrant, but since no one was home, they didn't have to show it. They didn't even have to force their way inside the house, since Yagami had given them his key. All five of them wore gloves to avoid leaving finger prints. They carried cameras to take pictures of any evidence found, especially if they couldn't bring the evidence back with them. Naomi had caught a few glimpses of the Yagami house while it had been bugged, but part of her had still expected something more sinister than what they found, convinced as she was that Kira lived here. But the house looked like every other house around it, middle class and highly typical. Another part of her had half excepted there to be traps in the house, but that was also stupid. A family of four lived here, and Light wouldn't put up traps that might alert his mother or sister that something suspicious was going on or, worse, hurt them. Perhaps a very small part of her was disappointed by the lack of danger. They were in Kira's house, and they shouldn't be able to feel safe while inside.

She followed L up the stairs, leaving Matsuda, Watari, and Mogi behind downstairs. She had told Yagami before hand that she would be the one to search Sayu's room. Yagami had felt a bit better about that, since Naomi couldn't be accused of perversity for going through the underwear drawer. She entered the room and left the door open behind her. On first glance, the room looked like it belonged to a typical junior high school girl. Naomi started searching in earnest.

It was over two hours later when she had looked through the entire room: every drawer, every book, every nook and cranny. And then she put things back the way they had been, so no one would guess someone had been in the room. There had been nothing even remotely incriminating, but then no one had seriously suspected Sayu of being Kira. Before going on to Light's room, she checked to see how L was doing. She found him in the bathroom, having finished going through Yagami and Sachiko's room. "Find anything?" he asked without looking at her.

"No," she shook her head. "You said we should search Light's room together."

"Yes," he murmured as he went through the medicine cabinet. She continued to wait for him, and fortunately he didn't take very long, as the bathroom had few places where something could be hidden. Naomi noted the piece of paper stuck in the door to Light's room before opening it. L followed her inside, glancing back at the door as if he'd noticed something interesting, but she went straight for Light's desk. It was a shame they couldn't look through his computer's history, but he would find out about that if they did. They would leave that as their last resort.

She quickly found herself becoming frustrated, as within an hour she still hadn't found anything. They only had about another two hours before Sachiko came back, and they wanted to be well away before then. She glanced over at L, but he was still going through Light's bookshelf, and had one more row to go before he was done. She sighed and went back to the desk, moving on to the top right hand drawer. A diary had been found in this drawer when the room was bugged. She turned the key and found that the diary was still there. She flipped through a few pages, but she didn't notice anything that would indicate that Light was Kira. She pulled the drawer all the way out, but there was nothing else inside. She put the diary back and was about to close the drawer when she stopped. Shouldn't the drawer be a bit deeper?

Pulling out the other desk drawers and measuring with with fingers confirmed that the drawer with the diary had a much thicker bottom that the other drawers. She peered closely at the wood that made up the bottom of the drawer, but it looked the same to her. She pulled the drawer all the way out, leaned her ear close, and tapped on the bottom of the drawer a few times. Then for contrast, she tapped on the bottom of the other drawers. Sure enough, the first one sounded different. Barely, but she thought it sounded almost... hollow. "Ryuuzaki," she called, "I think you'd better check this out."

He put the book he'd been flipping through back in the shelf and joined her at the desk. "Look," she said. "I think this drawer is shallower than the others." She stepped back from the desk and let him check the other drawers.

"You're right," he agreed after a minute. "The bottom of this drawer is very wide, but the wood looks the same."

"And it sounds like it might be hollow," she added. "Shall we open it up and find out?"

L held up a hand. "Not yet," he stopped her. She frowned and watched him continue to look over the drawer, rubbing his gloved hands slowly over every surface. While he was inspecting the bottom, he paused at one particular spot. "Ah," he finally murmured with a grin.

"What?" she asked, leaning close.

"Look at this," he pointed. She craned her head down and around so she could see the bottom of the drawer. Near the front, so small you could easily miss it, was a hole in the wood. "The way to open up the bottom?" L guessed. He tapped the hole a few times before letting go of the drawer. "Now to find the key," he said to himself, studying the desktop. Naomi frowned; what sort of 'key' could fit into such a small hole? But surely if there was a hidden compartment then Light would have something he could use to easily open the bottom of the drawer. L rummaged through the collection of pens and pencils on Light's desk, and picked out those which hadn't been used much. He held up the pens and pencils next to the hole, but they were all too wide. He put the pencils back and unscrewed the pens, taking out the ink cartridges inside. After contrasting with all of the cartridges three times, he picked one of them. "Stand back," he warned. Naomi took a step back and L pushed the cartridge back-end first into the hole.

The bottom of the drawer popped neatly up. "Yes," Naomi hissed in triumph and stepped forward to see what was inside. "An electric current!" she exclaimed, noticing that first. It seemed that if they had forced the drawer open, like she had suggested, the circuit would have been completed. There was a bag inside the drawer that looked like it was filled with gasoline. She shook her head over the ingenuity of it. "How did you guess?" she asked.

"I used to hide things too," L replied vaguely. She sighed, and didn't bother trying to get any details out of him. The only other thing that was in the drawer was a black notebook on top of the bag of gasoline. It read Death Note in English on the cover. Naomi frowned and carefully lifted the book out of the drawer. She opened the front cover and gasped when she saw what was written inside. "What does it say?" L asked, peering over her shoulder.

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die," she read the English words. She read the rest of what was written on the first page, the How To Use instructions. Needed to know a name and face for it to work. If no cause of death was specified, the human died of a heart attack. "This is how Kira kills," she whispered.

"It seems that way," L agreed. "The names on the first page are all criminals murdered by Kira, except for this second name." Naomi glanced at the second name. It wasn't one she recognized, and the death specified was by traffic accident. The first, she recalled, was the criminal L had used to determine that Kira was Japanese.

"Another test of the power?" she guessed.

"Probably," L agreed, taking the note from her. He flipped through the next few pages. "We're taking this with us," he said. "Yagami Light is almost certainly Kira. But let's finish checking in case we find anything else." He carefully replaced the fake bottom and put the pens back on Light's desk. The two of them continued to go over the room for another hour, but didn't find anything else suspicious. The lack didn't concern Naomi, for she was convinced that the book was more than enough. When finished searching, they put back whatever else had been out of place before leaving the room. They rounded up the others downstairs, and when they were all together, L asked the other three if they had found anything. They had not, so L held up the Death Note for them to see. "We have our proof," he told them. "Mogi-san, can you mobilize the police? Yagami Light should still be at his school right now. When you go to capture him, make sure your face is hidden." Mogi nodded solemnly. "And let's get him in custody before we tell Yagami-san," L added. They left the house, locking the door behind them, and Mogi split off from them to gather the police he'd need.

Watari went to fetch the car, and Matsuda leaned close to see the Note. "So Light-kun was Kira after all?" he asked. L nodded. "The chief won't take it well," Matsuda warned.

"I know," L agreed. "That's why we are capturing Yagami-kun before we tell him. But with this as proof, I don't think Yagami-san will be able to deny the truth for long." Naomi thought he sounded sad. L must be worried about how Yagami would take the news.

Watari pulled up with the car, and the three piled in. Naomi recalled what she had read in the Death Note, and turned to L to ask, "It said that the owner of the note would be followed by a god of death. Do you think that might be true?"

"God of death?" Matsuda echoed. "What kind of evidence did you find, anyway?" They hadn't explained the Death Note yet, but Naomi assumed L would do so once everyone was gathered together, to avoid having to explain twice.

L carefully fingered the note, his gloves still on. "I don't know," he admitted. "I would never have believed that something like a shinigami could exist, but I didn't believe a person could be killed by having their name written down in a notebook. So perhaps there really is a reaper, too. The note said the god of death possesses the owner of the note until death, and later that anyone who touches the note can see the god of death. Misora-san and I have both touched the note by now. When we see Yagami Light, perhaps we will also see the god of death."

Naomi nodded, and remembered that the bus hijacker had seen a monster after picking up a piece of paper that Light had dropped. So perhaps there was a god of death, and the hijacker had seen it. Which meant she, too, would soon see the reaper. She trembled at the thought of confronting a monster.

"We'll see a reaper if we touch that notebook?" Matsuda asked. He leaned over and reached out towards the note. L pulled the Death Note away from his grasp.

"If there is a god of death following Yagami-kun, you can touch the note later, Matsuda-san," he said. Matsuda pouted, clearly disappointed, but didn't try to grab the note a second time. Watari got them back to the hotel fairly soon. Light probably wouldn't be brought here, but would be confined elsewhere, at a place L had arranged with the police. Naomi didn't know where, and decided not to ask. She was sure that Yagami wouldn't know the location either.

"We found Kira!" Matsuda cheered as soon as they entered the room. Yagami shot to his feet with a look of horror, Aizawa seconds behind him. Naomi glared at Matsuda. Was the man a complete idiot? Yagami and Aizawa both knew they'd only been out investigating the Yagami house, and he had just casually announced that one of the Yagami family was Kira.

L also looked at Matsuda with annoyance before he sat himself down on his chair, pulling his feet up after him. "Yagami Light is being restrained at this moment," he stated plainly. Yagami fell back down into his chair, sitting there limply. "It appears he has been using this," and here L held up the Death Note, "to kill criminals. We will thoroughly check every name listed here, but so far most as criminals murdered by Kira."

"Most?" Aizawa asked sharply. "What do you mean by most, Ryuuzaki?"

"There are a few other names in here, other than criminals. However, criminals murdered by Kira, including the suspicious actions before their deaths, are all listed in here. The twelve FBI agents are listed in a page that was torn out," he added. Naomi looked up sharply. She hadn't noticed any pages that had been torn out, but she had only flipped through the note quickly. She felt anger mount within her. This was definitely how Raye had been killed.

"But... killing with a notebook?" Aizawa protested weakly. L opened the Death Note to the front cover, and read aloud the rules written inside so everyone could hear. Naomi watched the faces of those working around her L read. Matsuda was looking slightly ill, and Aizawa was slowly nodding in understanding. Watari stood off to one side, his face inscrutable. And Yagami... Yagami sat with his head bowed, so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But surely nothing good. When L finished reading, there was only silence in the hotel room. And the silence lasted until Watari's phone rang.

He picked it up and listed for a moment. "Ryuuzaki," he said, "Mogi-san and the police have Yagami Light. He said Yagami-kun came without a struggle. They should have him restrained soon, and then we'll be able to see him and speak with him." L nodded, and Watari returned to the phone. Silence again fell over the room, Naomi and the detectives glancing at Yagami periodically, worried over him. He hadn't moved or said a word. It was close to a half hour later when Watari's phone rang again. After listening, he reported, "They have him restrained. I'll set it up so we can see."

Moments later a picture came up on the television screens, all showing the same thing. It was a small, empty room with no one else present. In the middle was Yagami Light in a straight coat with his eyes covered. He stood calmly, though, as if he wasn't in the least bit worried. But Naomi barely glanced at Light, her eyes traveling just over his shoulder, and she screamed.

The note was real, because behind Light stood a monster. It was tall and dark, with bulbous eyes and a wide grinning mouth full of sharp teeth. It seemed to have wings, though it was hard to tell since the wings were folded in. From the audio coming through, she could hear it chuckling softly, though Light was silent.

She stopped screaming after a moment, though she continued to tremble in fear. "Misora-san!" Matsuda cried. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't touch it," she murmured faintly. "So you can't see it." It helped, that she could only see the monster through the screen. If she was closer to it, she didn't know what she would have done.

"See what?" Matsuda demanded. Then his eyes widened. "There... There really is a monster?" he stuttered.

L nodded. "Yes, I can see it too. It must be the god of death the note spoke of." Naomi glanced at L. He seemed shaken, but he at least hadn't screamed. She wished she had his composure.

"I want to see too," Matsuda decided. He walked over to L, reached over his shoulder, and touched the Death Note. Then he looked back up at the screen, and he screamed too. So Naomi wasn't the only one frightened by the monster. "It is..." he whispered. "There really is a monster standing behind Light-kun..."

As he trailed off, L turned around to look at Yagami. Naomi thought he looked sad. "If the reaper we see is following Yagami-kun," he said, "as it appears to be, then we now know for sure. Yagami-san, I'm sorry, but your son is Kira." Yagami heard, but he never once looked up, never once reacted. Now that there was proof, he wanted to be as far from it as possible.

* * *

Notes:  
If anyone would be able to find the trick to Light's desk, it'd be L. He and Light think way alike.  
While Light might carry scraps of the Death Note around with him, he's not stupid enough to carry the whole thing. Hence, he leaves it at home, in the "safe" hiding place. 


	5. Two

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 5:** Two 

Yagami raised a trembling hand while his eyes were fastened to the monitor. L held up the Death Note for him, and Yagami finally touched it. He didn't scream, like everyone else except L had. He merely drew in a slow, agonized breath as he stared at the reaper. "Light..." he whispered in anguish. He turned from the screen, letting his hand slip off the Death Note, and wandered aimlessly back to the chair he usually sat it. He slumped once he was seated, all the strength going out of him. Matsuda, watching him in concern, made as if to go to him, but L stopped him.

"What would you do, Matsuda-san?" he inquired quietly. "You can't know how he's feeling. Leave him be." Matsuda sighed in regret, but obeyed. They had all touched the note by now and could see the monster. It hadn't moved much, staring around the room Light was confined in, but making no attempt to leave. It chuckled periodically, but it hadn't said anything. In the five hours since Light had been brought to the room and constrained, he hadn't said anything either. Naomi wondered what he was playing at.

The night progressed slowly with them taking turns watching Light through the screen, L never leaving his own post. Naomi had caught maybe four hours of sleep, and was definitely not feeling at her best. She was so tired, that even the cake on the table seemed an appetizing breakfast. The food was for everyone, even if the sweets were mostly consumed by L, so she helped herself to a large piece. She sat down next to L with the plate and a fork. "Has he said anything?" she asked.

"No," L murmured, taking a bite of his own piece of cake. "Mogi-san told him he was being arrested for being Kira, so he knows why he's here."

Naomi glared at Light through the screen. Even with his eyes covered, it was still obvious that he was a very handsome young man. She hated him for it, as she hated him for his intelligence. "Then maybe we should start asking him questions," she suggested.

L finished off his piece of cake and nodded. He hit the switch on the board in front of them, which would allow them to talk with the prisoner. "Yagami Light," he said through the speaker. Light roused himself and cocked his head, letting them know he was listening. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes," Light answered calmly. He didn't sound tired, and Naomi wondered if he had fallen asleep sometime during the night. She hated him for that, too. "You arrested me because you thought I was Kira. But you're mistaken," he added with force in his voice. "I am not Kira."

"You are not Kira?" L asked.

Light shook his head. "No, I'm not. How could I be?" He sounded so innocent.

"Very well then," L murmured. "Would you be willing to introduce the reaper standing behind you?"

Naomi let a vicious smirk cross her face when Light stiffened. The god of death chuckled and said, in an eerie, rumbling voice, "They found your Death Note, Light." The voice sounded vaguely masculine, and Naomi was surprised the creature spoke Japanese when the instructions in the note had been written in English.

"We found the Death Note in the upper right hand corner of Yagami-kun's desk," L confirmed. "So, do you have a name, Reaper-san?"

The reaper chuckled a few more times while Light started to sweat. "I'm Ryuk," the monster offered with its broad grin. "Is this L?"

L nodded to himself, as if he wasn't surprised the monster – Ryuk – had guessed who he was. "I am L. Have you been following the investigation?"

"Yes," Ryuk said. "You humans are so very amusing. Being with Light is so much more interesting than the Shinigami world."

Naomi frowned. If there was an entire world of shinigami, that meant there was more than one. And multiple reapers could mean multiple Death Notes, couldn't it? "You enjoy being with Yagami-kun?" L asked. "Are you planning on helping him escape, by killing me perhaps?" He didn't sound worried, alluding to his own death.

"Light might be the best person to have found my Death Note, but I'm not on anyone's side," Ryuk told them. "Whoever wins, this is fun."

L might not have feared death, but Naomi could still see that he was relieved by the reaper's answer. One less enemy to worry about. After all, they might be able to catch and try Kira, but how could one catch a god of death? L asked again whether Light was Kira, and this time he didn't say anything. His lips were pressed together tight and sweat stood out clearly on his face, but he said nothing. After a few minutes, L turned off his speaker and sat back. "We will wait," he told Naomi, "and see if the criminals stop dying. If not, there might be another Kira at work." She nodded and turned back to keep watching Light, letting herself hate him for every breath he took. L had also understood the significance of there being more than one god of death.

Over the next few days, no criminals died of heart attacks, and people began to panic. Kira might not have been around for long, but people had gotten used to him, and many people had supported what he had been doing. Naomi felt nothing but contempt for those who did support Kira, though, in all fairness, the general public didn't know that Kira had killed anyone other than criminals. Kira's opponents rejoiced across the media and many people suggested that L had finally caught Kira. It was four days after capturing Light that Interpol contacted Watari, asking if L really had captured Kira. L replied to them that he did have Kira, but was still investigating the source of Kira's power, so he couldn't be turned over for justice just yet.

L constantly asked Light questions, but he almost never answered. When he did say something, it was to affirm his own innocence. After a few minutes, L would calmly start ignoring Light in favor of asking Ryuk questions. The god of death answered whichever questions he felt like answering, no more and no less. The one time the reaper had asked his own question had struck fear into Naomi's heart. He had asked if L intended to test out the Death Note, to make sure it was real. L hadn't answered, and Naomi was left with nothing but worries. L couldn't use the Death Note, no one could. It was totally evil, and should be destroyed as soon as possible. Surely L wasn't the sort of person who would go ahead and test out the Death Note. Right?

It was seven days after Light had been captured, seven days during which Light said almost nothing and Yagami even less, when criminals suddenly started dying again.

The deaths took everyone by surprise. All the criminals were Japanese, most from the Kanto area, and all died of heart attacks. More, minor criminals died too, those who had committed far less sever crimes than Kira had punished for. They checked the Death Note again, but none of these names were written in. Checking had been mostly a formality, as most of the criminals didn't commit any crime until after Light had been captured. The number of any type of criminal had increased exponentially after the media started talking about Kira being gone, and these criminals were among those freed from fear of Kira. Or they had thought they had nothing to fear.

The chaos all over the world because of the sudden new deaths was mirrored by the chaos in the investigation team. "Maybe Light-kun wasn't Kira after all," Matsuda suggested awkwardly. He glanced over to Yagami, but it had been days since the chief had responded to anything or anyone.

"No," L said, not looking at Yagami. "There is no doubt that Yagami-kun is Kira. But Ryuk-san spoke of a shinigami world. He never said so, but there are probably other reapers. And, if there are other reapers, there are other Death Notes, and another could have reached the human world. It isn't impossible for there to be a second Kira."

Naomi nodded; she had thought the same thing herself earlier, although the idea of another Kira terrified her as few other things could. "And this one is willing to kill more criminals than the first did," she added. She didn't say Light's name. These days, she only ever called him Kira. Raye's murderer, Kira. "Some of the people killed had only committed minor crimes: shoplifting, taking illegal drugs, and extortion to name a few."

"So, if this is another Kira, how to we catch him?" Ukita asked, scratching his head with a pencil. L frowned and stared off into space, distractedly pilling more sugar cubes into his cup of coffee. Before he could say anything, his cell phone went off. He listened for a moment, then told them to turn on Sakura TV.

Ukita turned on the television while Naomi frowned. Why Sakura TV? The network was a joke, always making up stories about Kira and interviewing people about Kira. It was one network that insisted Kira was not captured or dead, merely taking a short break. When she saw what was on Sakura TV, she caught her breath.

A video message from Kira? She held her breath as the tape began to play. The words "Kira 2" were printed in the same font that L used, and the voice-over was impossible to identify. "I am another Kira," the voice announced. "I am not the Kira you know, but I am his ally and I share his powers. I know that the police have captured the first Kira, and I want them to let him go. Many people are saying that Kira being gone is a good thing, but those people are wrong. If this video was played at exactly 17:59, then switch channels to Taiyo TV. Hibima Kazuhiko-san has constantly referred to Kira as 'evil', and he will now die to pay for his crime."

"Turn another TV to Taito," L said quickly. Ukita jumped up and switched one of the monitors. Taiyo came up, and Naomi felt bile rise in her throat when he saw the anchorman slumped across the desk, with the other reporters screaming around him. He was really dead.

"But one demonstration alone does not serve as proof that I have the power of Kira. So I will present another, a commentator who has constantly condemned Kira and who is glad that Kira is gone. He too will suffer for his crime," the Kira video continued.

"Go to channel twenty-four," L said quickly.

Ukita turned on a third screen to show another anchorman dying as they watched. "Shit," Ukita muttered. "This is serious! I've got to stop the broadcast right now!" He turned and ran out of the hotel room, the door slamming loudly behind him.

"Kira is just," the video continued. "L and the police who captured Kira are the ones who are wrong. And with Kira away, I will take over his divine mission. But Kira is the only one who should punish criminals, which I why I want the police to let Kira go."

Matsuda, Aizawa, and Naomi jumped. "He's joking, right?" Aizawa asked weakly. "As if we'd just let Kira go."

"If that happened, the two might team up!" Matsuda added, frightened. Naomi shivered at the thought, and glanced at L. He was hunched over, biting his thumb again. He was clearly worried.

The Kira video continued, saying that this Kira would punish criminals for the original Kira, and the whole world would be happy. Naomi only listened with half an ear, watching another screen that showed the outside of the Sakura TV building. Moments later, Ukita showed up on the screen, running for the doors. But he stopped before he could get there, clutching his chest. Then he slumped to the ground, and the reporters at that station began to scream. Aizawa swore and jumped to his feet. "Stop," L said firmly.

Aizawa whirled around, his eyes wild. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "Ukita's in trouble! I can't just stay here and let him get killed!"

"He is already dead," L stated flatly. "If you go to Sakura TV, then you will die too, and you won't be able to avenge Ukita-san." He stared coolly at Aizawa. With a tortured look on his face, Aizawa finally collapsed into a seat, whispering apologies to Ukita.

Naomi murmured an apology too before turning back to the screens. The Kira video was just concluding: "The police would do well to release Kira. If they don't, I will consider them criminals, and punish them accordingly." On that ominous note, the video reached an end.

The room was silent for a moment, before Aizawa said, "We _must_ go to Sakura TV! We need to get those videos!"

L nodded this time. "Be careful," he warned. Aizawa nodded and left with Matsuda, leaving the room empty of all but Naomi, L, and Yagami, who might as well not be anywhere.

"Will they be alright?" Naomi asked, her voice trembling. Part of her wished she could have gone with. But Aizawa and Matsuda would certainly be calling in other NPA officers to help them, others who would know she did not work for the NPA. It was best for the police not to worry too much about who was working on the Kira case with L. She did still wish she could have gone with. No matter what happened, more people kept dying, people like Ukita or the anchormen who hadn't done anything to deserve being murdered. This second Kira almost made her feel worse than the first. Almost; this new Kira hadn't been the one to kill Raye.

"They'll be sure to cover up their faces," L said. "If they do, they should be fine."

She shivered again. "But to kill people who are just walking past... How could this Kira do that?"

L shook his head. "I don't know, but I suspect there might be a way. Yagami-kun and Ryuk-san probably know how. I wonder if we could get them to tell?" he asked, mostly to himself, chewing the tip of his thumb again. Naomi frowned and turned back to the televisions. The police reached Sakura TV in a few minutes, with an armored car and officers wearing face-concealing helmets. None of them died, and she wondered if it was just that Kira couldn't kill them, or if he'd left the area already. The action lasted for some time, while the networks that hadn't had anchormen die explain what had happened. She felt pleased when more than more channel had announcers declare that they stood against Kira and this second Kira, saying they hoped both were captured and executed for their crimes. The other channels still hadn't calmed down when the police finally left Sakura TV.

It was close to a half hour later when Aizawa and Matsuda came back with Mogi. With Mogi here, Naomi realized with a shock, everyone involved in the investigation except for Watari was here. Their number, small already, had just gone down by one. "We got the tapes from Sakura TV," Aizawa announced. "There are four total. We also got the envelope they were mailed in, and the letter to Sakura TV. I'm sending it all to forensics to examine, but we can watch the duplicate tapes whenever we want." He handed the duplicates to Naomi and then left to help with the forensics. L studied the tape thoughtfully, holding it above his head.

"Can we watch the tapes?" Matsuda asked. "We need to find this second Kira as soon as possible!" L shrugged and popped the first tape in. He played all four tapes through twice without saying a word. Naomi watched the last tape, the one Sakura TV was supposed to play if the police refused to release Kira, with righteous indignation. If Kira was not freed, the last tape announced, police directors across Japan would be killed instead, unless L showed himself, in which case he would be the one killed. Naomi barely stifled a growl at that. There was no way that Light would be released, but there was also no way that the police directors could be risked. But surely L wouldn't show himself to the public, would he? They couldn't afford to lose him, under any circumstances.

"What are we going to do?" she asked quietly when L stopped the tapes. "We're not letting him go." No need to say who _he_ meant. "But if we don't, this Kira will kill innocent people."

L leaned back in his chair, his legs splayed artlessly in front of him, looking awkward. "We will not release Yagami-kun," he agreed. "If it comes to it, I will show myself to prevent the murders of police directors."

Naomi gasped. "You can't!" she exclaimed. She reached out and caught his hand in hers. "I you die, how will we ever find the second Kira? We need you!" Couldn't he see that?

L glanced down at their entwined hands. "You are worried about me, Misora-san?" he asked softly.

She tightened her grip on his hand ever so slightly. For all his genius, he hadn't yet realized that? "Of course I am," she replied gently. "I don't want you to die. You're my friend."

He looked away. "How wonderful," he murmured. "I have so few friends." He slipped his hand out from hers a moment later, and said, "While I do not fear dying, I do not want to die yet. There are many things I still have to accomplish. And I have no intention of letting this second Kira kill me if I can help it."

"Good," she said, smiling. "What do you have planned?"

He reached over to the controls in front of the televisions. The images toggled for a few moments, before once again showing Light in his confinement. "I do not intend to release Yagami-kun," he repeated. "However, we can use the first Kira to catch the second one."

* * *

Notes: 

Misa is playing Knight In Shining Armor for Light, and I am terribly amused.

A brief Naomi/L moment, which I hope was cute. (Because there are no Light/L moments in this AU.)

A few more lines from the Viz translation. However, I did skim over a lot from the Sakura TV incident. I mostly just wrote the things that were different.

We're almost done now, although, with the ending I have planned, I suppose there is room to write more.


	6. Deal

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 6:** Deal 

"Could there be another Death Note in the human world?" L asked through the speaker, using the same terminology that Ryuk used. Light stiffened but said nothing. Almost two weeks he'd been here, and he hadn't said anything except that he wasn't guilty. Naomi hoped he was going through a lot of mental torture, because he deserved it.

Ryuk didn't answer either, but he did chuckle longer than he usually did. After a few minutes, L flipped off the speaker. "So?" Naomi prompted when he didn't say anything right away. "Does that mean there is another Death Note, or there isn't?"

L considered before answering, "There should be another note. We will work under that assumption." He glanced over at the Death Note lying nearby on the table. "What is certain is that this Kira is more powerful than Yagami-kun. This one can kill just knowing a person's face." Naomi nodded; they had already established that fact. "But this new Kira does have something we can use against him."

"What's that?" she inquired eagerly.

"This Kira looks up to the first Kira. He said that Kira was on a divine mission and he would do anything to help Kira. Which means this Kira won't stop until he gets a message from the first Kira," L explained. He reached for his plate and took a bite of the pie on it. Naomi was amazed at how much junk food L went through, and even more amazed by the fact that he was still skinny after all those sweets.

"Surely you don't intent to let him talk to the new Kira," she said with a frown. L still hadn't made a move to hand Light over to the authorities for a trial, and that was beginning to worry Naomi. True, with this added difficulty, she knew they might need Light, but she still wanted him dead as soon as possible.

L took another forkful of pie before replying. "Probably not," he said. She looked at him sharply, but he continued calmly. "However, this new Kira does not know who the first Kira is, and we can use that against him. We'll have the first Kira tell the second Kira that he isn't captured at all." He finished the pie and didn't bother explaining further. It wasn't until the whole team was assembled again that Naomi figured out what L was planning. They would make their own tape, claim that it was from the first Kira who would say he wasn't captured, and send it to Sakura TV. It would have to be convincing enough that this second Kira would believe it, but it would be enough so long as the second Kira didn't kill more innocent people.

Two days later, a day before the second Kira had demanded some sort of response from the police, Sakura TV aired their own Kira video. Naomi watched the video and saw it was of much higher quality than the other Kira videos, and felt obscurely proud of that, even though Matsuda had been the one to make the video. The message on the video was pure deception by L. "I am the real Kira," the video stated. Mogi had read the voice over, but Naomi couldn't recognize his voice after it had gone through recording equipment. "This is a message to the Kira of a few days ago. Do not kill innocent people using my name. Do not kill police officers using my name. I only kill criminals." That first part had been the most important part of the message, to keep civilians safe, and themselves safe. "As you can see from this message, I have not been captured. If you want to know why I have not punished any criminals in two weeks, come find me and I will tell you face to face."

The message went on to repeat a few points, but that was the most important part. If the second Kira was at all intelligent, he would ask for proof that the first Kira was free. And that was the only part of the plan that Naomi couldn't guess. How could they pass off a fake Kira to another person with a Death Note? She hoped L had something planned.

Their own Kira message made the public more confused than they had been before, but that couldn't be helped. Maybe, when this whole crazy case was put to rest, they'd be able to tell the public what had really happened, or some of it anyway. Naomi was surprised at first by how willing Sakura TV was to work with them, but the station's ratings had gone way up because of it. And the ratings went up even more when the second Kira sent a reply to their fake Kira message.

"I would love to meet Kira-san face to face," the video said. Even with the deliberately bad recording, Naomi could tell the second Kira sounded eager. "We can confirm each other's identities with our shinigami," the video added. And with the video had come a diary excerpt, detailing a month's activities. The team went over the page carefully, and found three locations and dates: the twenty-second in Aoyama, the twenty-sixth in Shibuya, and the thirtieth at the Tokyo Dome. But there were extras clues too. It was doubtful that the second Kira meant the Tokyo Dome, since he mentioned seeing a god of death in that entry. Naomi latched onto the Aoyama date firmly, since the diary mentioned exchanging notes. This second Kira might act like an idiot, but wasn't that stupid. The second Kira assumed only the first Kira knew about the existence of the Death Notes, and so felt secure enough to use the word 'note' as a hint. But they did have the Death Note, and they did know.

"We should have all three of these locations checked on the days mentioned," Aizawa said. "It could be any, and we can't afford to take any chances."

"I'm sure it's Aoyama," Naomi stated with confidence.

L picked up a piece of chocolate out of the large box which was already two-thirds empty. "It is likely Aoyama," he agreed, "but we should still check all three. The hard part is that we do not have a god of death to show the second Kira." That effectively stopped all conversations, although Matsuda made a few outrageous suggestions. After almost an hour of arguing and discarding plans, Naomi was beginning to get a headache. Surely there was something they could do to catch the second Kira without giving away that the first Kira was captured. She was taken by complete surprise when L flipped the switch that would allow him to talk to Light. "Yagami-kun," he said into the speaker. "We need your god of death."

Light straightened and frowned. "Are you trying to trick me into a confession?" he asked coldly.

"No," L assured him. "We haven't told you this yet, but there's another Kira loose." Light started at that news, gaping for a brief moment. "And this second Kira worships the first Kira. If we bait a trap properly, we'll be able to catch this second Kira," he explained, and waited for Light's response. Naomi watched in confusion, trying to guess what L had in mind.

It was clear that Light was thinking hard too, with a severe frown on his face. "You're trying to trick me again," he accused. "I am not Kira, so I can't be the bait for your trap." Naomi gasped. So _that_ had been what L was planning! How could he? How could he even think of letting Light free, even for an hour under supervision?

"I am not trying to trick you," L countered calmly. "I am making a deal with you. However bad you were, this second Kira is worse, and I want him captured as soon as possible. Here is the deal, Yagami-kun: if you act as bait for the second Kira, I will do what I can to get you a lighter sentence."

Naomi stumbled backwards, her face ashen. He couldn't be doing this! How dare he offer Raye's murderer a deal like this? "Ryuuzaki," she protested. "You can't do this!" He didn't even look at her, his eyes riveted to the screen showing Light's face. "I won't let you make a deal with him!" she yelled, shaking with anger.

"This deal won't help Yagami-kun much," L told her quietly. The speaker was off, so Light couldn't hear them speak as he considered the offer. "The best he can hope for is a life sentence."

She glared at him longer, then whirled around and stalked over to the far side of the room. Tears slipped down her cheeks. How could he do this? She thought she could trust L to help her get revenge for Raye. A life sentence wasn't good enough for her. She wanted Light dead. Only then could she feel satisfied.

While her back was turned, she heard Light reply. "All right," he said, very quietly. "I'll help." At that, she turned to look at the television. Light was hunched over within his restraints, for the first time looking defeated. Agreeing to help meant all but admitting that he was Kira, and Naomi had harbored a faint hope that Light would have proved stubborn. But he had agreed, and now he wouldn't be punished as she wanted him to be.

How could things turn this badly, this quickly?

She spent the next few days wandering around the hotel room listlessly. L tried to talk to her a few times, but she always turned her back on him and walked away. She was still angry at him, and the last thing she wanted to hear was him attempting to justify his plans, and his deal with Light. But she did have the chance to think, and realized that, in one thing, L was totally right. They did need to catch the second Kira, even more desperately than the first. That fact, she could not deny. So when a group was organized to go to Aoyama, she insisted on going with. L perked up at her decision, but she left without talking to him. She was going to make sure Light didn't cause any trouble.

Light had gotten pale and thin over the weeks of his confinement, but was still handsome when they let him out. They had checked him multiple times, and knew that he had no scraps of the Death Note on his person, not even the piece he'd sewn into his wallet. Matsuda was coming with too, along with a group of plain clothes officers. Together, they looked like a group of young friends on a day out together. Other officers and monitoring equipment was spread all over Aoyama, so they couldn't possibly miss anything. Light kept obediently in the middle of their little group, but he acted calm and composed the entire time, to Naomi's extreme annoyance. Ryuk casually flew above the group, making it impossible to tell which one of them he was following.

Nothing dangerous happened the entire day, nor did anyone seem to react to Light, or even Ryuk. It was immensely frustrating, and got worse when nothing happened at Shibuya or Tokyo Dome in the next few days. Naomi was close to injuring someone physically. They had made a deal with Light, and for what? There was no sign of the second Kira anywhere! She was close to her breaking point when a third message from the second Kira reached Sakura TV.

The video was unbelievable! The second Kira thanked Sakura TV for helping him find the first Kira, and apologized again for causing trouble. And that was all the video said, no other clues! She started pacing the room when L interrupted her thoughts. "Let's let Yagami-kun go home for a few days," he said.

Naomi whirled and stared at him, feeling completely betrayed. He was letting Light go? Now? "Why?" Aizawa was the one who managed to stutter out.

"It is clear that the second Kira knows who the first Kira is," L explained between bites of cake. "If he goes to find Yagami-kun, and discovers he is missing, our deception will be discovered. So we let Yagami-kun stay at home where the second Kira can find him. Once the second Kira does, we can capture him there, and reclaim Yagami-kun."

Aizawa, Matsuda, and Mogi considered the idea while Naomi continued to fume. Even if L planned on capturing Light again, she still didn't like the idea of letting him go. She was beginning to think she would never find vengeance for Raye.

"That could work," Aizawa said slowly. "We'll have to be very careful. We don't want the rest of the Yagami family to be in danger, and we don't want to let either Kira escape."

"We're also not sure how the second Kira kills with just a face," Mogi added. "We'll have to be sure our faces are covered."

Matsuda jumped to his feet and pumped his arms in excitement. "Finally!" he cheered. "A stake out to catch one Kira with the other Kira!"

"This is nothing to be excited about, Matsuda-san," L said sharply, and Matsuda wilted. "Yagami-san, may we use your house to catch the second Kira?" he asked. Yagami didn't move, and hadn't moved in days. Naomi wasn't sure he was alive anymore. When minutes went past without a reply, L finally decided to use the Yagami house anyway.

The Yagami house looked the same on the outside as it did before, but the inside was clearly different. There was a tension that was easy to see through the surveillance cameras that had been set up again. Sachiko walked around in a daze, and Sayu moped. They didn't know exactly what was going on, but they knew that neither Yagami nor Light had been home in weeks, and now Light was home under police observation. Light was to stay inside his room except to go to the bathroom. Naomi, Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi took shifts in twos staying inside the Yagami house, hidden from view, and hiding a short distance away in a covered car with Watari. When a cute girl rang the bell a few days after the latest Kira video, Aizawa and Mogi were hiding out in the upstairs of the house. Naomi and Matsuda lurked in the nearby car with Watari. All five were fully armed and wore face-concealing helmets.

The girl, who introduced herself as Amane Misa, a name Naomi vaguely recognized, asked to see Light, the group went into alert positions. Naomi turned on her radio so she could hear the conversation in Light's room. At first there was just the sound of people moving around, sitting down, and pulling things out. "What do you want?" Light finally asked, sounding tense.

Another long silence followed, before Light made a soft sound. Naomi frowned, and wished she could see what was going on in that room, but only L was monitoring the cameras back at the hotel. A moment later, L's voice came across the radio, saying that the girl had pulled out a Death Note. Mogi called for backup as she heard Light's door crashing across the listening devices. So it seemed Misa was the second Kira. Naomi, Matsuda, and Watari rushed into the house and up the stairs, the whole time Naomi fearing what might have happened to Aizawa and Mogi. But when they reached Light's room, the situation was under control.

Mogi was restraining Light, while Aizawa held Misa down on the floor, his grip firm despite her bare legs and short skirt. A Death Note lay discarded on the floor between the two teens, the kanji for 'Matsuda' already written in. Matsuda saw, and gulped in terror. "Don't worry," Naomi said. "It would only work if your full name was written down." He waited another few seconds, giving the full forty seconds needed for killing with the Death Note, before relaxing when he saw he was still alive.

Naomi picked up the Death Note, and turned to see a second reaper hovering behind Misa. This reaper was frowning, and looked concerned, but did nothing. Naomi smirked in triumph. "Thought you'd kill us off before we caught you again?" she asked Light. He glared up at her. "Too bad you don't know who all of us are, or you might have succeeded. And too bad you didn't think that L would bug your room a second time." He had been clever enough the first time the room had been bugged. While he hadn't acted it, Naomi guessed he must have been desperate to find some way to escape, leading him to write names into Misa's Death Note. But L had seen it, and Light hadn't written fast enough to kill anyone. He was beaten now, along with the second Kira, and Naomi finally felt satisfaction.

As long as both Kira's couldn't kill anymore, she supposed she was satisfied with how things turned out. The couldn't kill anymore people, and, in the end, that was what mattered the most. They had been stopped. Raye could now rest in peace.

* * *

Notes: 

I don't know why Rem says that Misa is pure, what with the way she casually kills off innocent people. I liked Rem, though, at least until chapter 63 which I won't explain because of spoilers.

Light doesn't have the piece of the Death Note in his watch. Actually, he doesn't even have that watch, since he never got into university in this version.

Light wrote down Mastuda's name because he knows Matsuda, and knows Matsuda is on the investigation team. He saw Naomi, but doesn't know her name. He was waiting for Misa to see them, so she could write the other names down.

Finally, why hasn't Light renounced his claim on his Death Note? He is fairly sure that it's in the hands of L, or someone working for L, based on the fact that all the investigators can clearly see and talk to Ryuk. If he gave it up, it would become the possession of the person holding it, which would be L or another invesigator. That would in no way help him get out of his situation.

And Ryuk is rarely helpful, even when bribed with apples, to which Light does not have access while held prisoner. (I'm kinda assuming that L or one of the investigators is feeding Ryuk apples, otherwise he'd be doing handstands.)

We're not quite done yet, there's still an epilogue to go, which should be up by Wednesday.


	7. Life

**Justice and Vengeance**  
**Author:** Qaddafi the Ripper  
**Summary:** AU: Light misses running into Misora Naomi, and she is able to tell L what she knows about Kira. Working together, can Naomi and L catch Light?  
**Disclaimer:** Death Note belongs to Ooba and Obata.

* * *

**Part 7:** Life 

Yagami Light and Amane Misa were tried in an international court. Interpol managed to keep the media as far away as possible, but word still got around that the two Kira's were being tried. The trials had gone badly at first. The Death Notes had not been shown in court, but were referred to and described. It was understandable that no one would believe about the Death Notes without at least seeing the notes. But after two months of isolation and questioning, Misa finally admitted to the truth about the Death Notes. She'd hoped, she also admitted, to marry Light and help him create a new world. She'd been willing to do anything for him, she'd said. But when she learned that Light had been willing bait to capture her, she finally changed her opinion of him, although she maintained that, if things had turned out differently, she would have been very happy to live with Light.

Light never admitted to being Kira, although he did admit to helping capture the second Kira. Naomi wondered sometimes, if it was is pride that kept him from that final admission, or if he still had some sort of plan to save himself at the very last moment.

Both were eventually judged guilty of being Kira and the second Kira, respectively. Misa, due to her killing police officers and innocent civilians, was given the death sentence, and scheduled for execution a month after the verdict. Light was given a lifetime in high security prison, a lesser sentence since he had helped in the capture of the second Kira. The two Death Notes were burnt by the investigation team, and as soon as they were gone, the two gods of death vanished, presumed to have gone back to the shinigami world. Throughout the imprisonment and trial, all people concerned had kept their faces covered, and no one had died.

The media did eventually hear about the Death Notes, and started making all sorts of weird claims about them. Television shows were made about the Death Notes, and people frequently asked each other the question: if you could kill anyone you wanted to, who would you kill?

There were massive crime sprees right after the second Kira was caught and criminals stopped dying of heart attacks. Eventually, the crime rate did go back down to approximately where it had been before Kira. Many people expressed sadness over the death of Kira, but equally many were glad he was gone. Many groups pushed for a strengthened police force, so crime could be taken care of without help from Kira. Slowly but surely, the world began to move again without Kira, though whether the world was better or not was a question Naomi would leave to philosophers.

While she was glad that she would never have to see either reaper again, and that Misa had gotten the death penalty, Naomi was still unsatisfied. Her emotions roiled and swayed, between fury that Light wasn't going to be killed, to peace for the case having been successfully solved. She had never felt so conflicted about a case before, and she frequently asked herself what Raye might have thought of the outcome. Would he have felt that only Light's death would avenge him, or would the life sentence be sufficient for him? Naomi couldn't say, and so her wavering continued.

After Light was finally judged guilty of being Kira and sentenced, his father shot himself. Sachiko and Sayu were devastated by the loss of both men. At some point, L had apparently taken steps to ensure that families were given money should an investigator die on the Kira case, and he quietly transferred money to the remaining Yagami family. It wouldn't make up for their losses, but at least they could pay the bills for the rest of their lives.

The family of Ukita also received money because of his death, and the Amane family was quietly given some money also. Naomi, Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi, the only four who had made it through the case alive, were paid handsomely by police all over the world, and frequently interviewed by the media. It amazed the public that only those four, along with the still mysterious L and Watari, had been able to solve the case and capture Kira. Naomi liked having some measure of prestige, but could do without the reporters hounding her. It got worse when the media learned that Raye had been killed by Kira, and they started giving her sympathy. After that, she barely went outside.

It was after the death of Yagami that L finally packed his things and planned to disappear again with Watari. He said goodbye to Naomi, Matsuda, Aizawa, and Mogi in his hotel room. Aizawa wished him well with quiet dignity and said it had been a pleasure working with him. Mogi thanked him for the opportunity to work together, and for solving the case. Matsuda was reduced to tears, bawling over how sad he was for the chief and how much he'd miss L. The three men left together, Aizawa scolding Matsuda for his tears even though his own eyes were suspiciously bright.

Naomi lingered behind. "What do you intend to do now?" L asked her. Watari was finishing packing in the next room, and it felt like the two of them were alone together.

She sighed and looked down. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I only left the FBI because I was going to marry Raye, but now I'm not sure if I want to go back. My family is here, so I might stay for awhile, maybe join the NPA." She hadn't wanted to join the NPA before, because it was common knowledge that a woman couldn't go as far as a man could. In America with the FBI, it had been different. But now she had three friends in the NPA, and a reputation, so she could probably be successful here in Japan. But while there were people here, there were also so many bad memories: Raye dying and the Yagami family, to name two. "I don't know," she repeated softly.

L scratched the calf of his left leg with his right foot, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "If you're still interested in being an investigator," he said quietly, "you could work with myself and Watari." She blinked and stared at him in shock. They had worked well together, but she hadn't expected him to make an offer like this! It was also like he was asking her to be his partner... No, not quite partner, she corrected herself. But to work with him, like Watari did.

"Are... Are you sure about that?" she asked hesitantly. She knew how great an honor it was, to work with L, and how many people would be jealous of her.

"We work well together," L said, echoing her earlier thoughts. "And I usually need more help than Watari. I ask the police, but it would be nice to have someone I know." He glanced away from her, almost as it he were embarrassed.

She frowned and looked down. It was an honor, there was no doubt about that, and she also believed that she could be a great help to him. But she still hesitated. She couldn't forget Light, and his life sentence. Perhaps Raye would be satisfied with just that, but in the end it had been because of L that Light had helped capture Misa, and gotten a lighter sentence. She was still angry at him for that, and wasn't sure if she could forgive him for it. It was shallow and cruel of her, to be angry at L for doing what he needed to in order to capture Misa. But Light was still alive

"I'm sorry," she said, barely above a whisper. "But I can't work with you. Not now."

He was silent for a moment, before saying, "Because of Yagami-kun?" It wasn't really a question.

"Yes," she agreed softly.

He sighed quietly. "I believe that capturing and stopping a criminal should be enough justice for anyone. And I think a life sentence would satisfy most people's thirst for vengeance too. But I can't make you agree with me. I hope that we may meet again, some time in the future. Goodbye, Misora-san."

"Goodbye, Ryuuzaki," she murmured. And in moments, L and Watari were gone, leaving the room empty. Naomi stared around herself for a minute or two before falling in a heap on the ground.

What did she have left now? She had no job, no fiancé, no vengeance, and few friends. How had her life come to this point? And whose fault was it? Light's? L's? Or was it her fault, for wanting more and not getting it? She didn't know, and wasn't sure if she would ever know.

What did she have left?

Wiping tears from her eyes, she noticed a business card on the carpet in front of her. It was one of Aizawa's, whose number she knew, and she almost threw it away before she saw the backside. A phone number had been scrawled down, in handwriting she recognized as L's. Below the number were the words, "If you change your mind."

She picked up the business card and slipped it into her pocket.

The end

* * *

Notes: 

Let me start by saying that this was not the ending I originally intended. Yes, I knew Light was going to get captured. The point of this fic, in the end, was for both Naomi and L to survive, which meant Kira had to lose. It was sometime during the second chapter where I realized that Yagami would kill himself. I wish he hadn't, but from the manga, I don't think he was someone who could live with the shame of having Kira as a son. The chapter title of this final part, life, reflects my own feelings, and Naomi's: life rarely turns out the way you want it to. Speaking of titles, though, a more accurate title for the entire fic might have been Justice _or_ Vengeance, since that is the core of Naomi's debate.

So, I'm sorry that ending was sad. I couldn't avoid it. But, there are choices left, as least for Naomi. And I'm sure Light will plot things in prison, because Light's that kind of person.

The Gods of Death have to return to the shinigami world if the Death Note is destroyed, which is why they left before Misa died. Everyone Misa met up with had their faces covered, to keep Rem from killing them to save Misa. Given Misa's power, it was a logical step to take.

You can debate whether the phone number Naomi got was L's or Watari's. Either way, she can contact them.

And so ends my first Death Note fic. I think the next one needs to be short, not drama, and full of random slashy pairings. Something crazy that no one has done yet, like L/Aber or a Yotsuba 8 orgy. Because I'm so done with serious for awhile. Thanks to everyone who read.


End file.
